Holded, the ‘business operating system’ for SMEs, gets €6M in Series A funding led by Lakestar – TechCrunch

Holded, the Barcelona-based startup that offers a SaaS to help SMEs with a range of business tasks, has raised €6 million in Series A funding. The round is led by Lakestar, with previous backers Nauta Capital and Seedrocket 4Founders Capital following on.

Founded in 2016 by Bernat Ripoll and Javi Fondevila, Holded describes itself as a “Business Operating System”. The idea is to provide a single platform for small to medium-sized business owners to manage every aspect of their business.

The Saas covers financial management such as accounting and invoicing to HR, CRM, and project and inventory management. In addition, the customisable platform offers multiple integrations to connect with a number of popular payment and e-commerce solutions. They include Amazon, Paypal and Shopify.

Alongside this, Holded is able to “automate” a number of core business administration tasks via the cloud-based platform’s own AI. It also uses data garnered through the use of the software to benchmark business performance and provide managers and business owners with actionable insights with regards to how they might increase sales, reduce expenses and save time.

Holded co-founder Bernat Ripoll says the company set out to develop next generation Enterprise-Resource-Planning (ERP) software that addresses the needs of modern companies, which is something that appears to be resonating with SMEs. Since closing its seed round in early 2018, Holded has increased user numbers from 10,000 to 30,000, claiming to now be the leader in Spain.

Meanwhile, Holded says the new capital will be used to accelerate its expansion into international markets. The Spanish startup will also invest further in the development of the software’s core functionality.

“[We] now aim to replicate this [success] in other countries while continuing to consolidate the Spanish market,” says Holded co-founder Javi Fondevila, adding that the startup plans to roll out new product features and “country-specific” integrations.